Breathtaking
by vrea
Summary: Natsu reflects on everything Lucy has become. Especially to him.


She was strong. He had no doubt about that.

Even to this day, she could still surprise him with how strong she really was.

He didn't know _why_ exactly people called her weak, - _they didn't even know her the way he did, what right did they have to talk about her in that way?_ \- but he would punch the living daylights out of every single one if they even _dared_ to harbour the thought.

(He'd already done so, actually. Seeing the way that new member George wince while nursing the third degree burn on his cheek was definitely worth the scolding Erza had given him later.

He could have sworn there had been a small smile on her face as she called him over, plus the punch she'd delivered felt more like a light shove. It helped that the reprimanding of the usual '_What did i tell you about starting fights in the guild?_ ' and the '_We're nakama! We're not supposed to fight each other!_ ' barely lasted a minute, too.)

She might not have been strong physically, but he was absolutely _sure_ of the fact that she was the emotionally strongest person he had ever come to know.

She knew exactly what to say in the exact right moments, knew when to play what personna, and he'd been _convinced_ of just how tough she was the way she handled her father's death.

It wasn't easy, losing a parent, but losing both was worse, especially if you didn't get to see them in their last moments. Still, she pulled herself together quickly, putting back the broken pieces of herself while still not lashing out at anyone who approached her about the subject.

She never completely got over it, he knew, because she still had that faraway look in her eyes when she was reminded of her parents, because he still caught her scanning the letter that her father had left her, tears shining in her eyes.

She was brave.

So, _so_ brave in so many ways.

She was brave in the way she stood up to those who did wrong, brave in the way she refused to surrender to the enemy even with her life on the line, brave in the way she smiled and encouraged others although she was breaking inside too.

But she was also gentle.

Gentle in the way she smiled, in the way she tended to his wounds with such care and concern that he just _melted_, warm in the way she looked at her nakama, her family, _Fairy Tail_.

Jolted out of his reminiscing, he glanced down at the defeated enemy on the ground - _what a joke, this mission was, the bandits didn't even pack a punch!_ \- before looking up, mouth open in an attempt to call out his partner's name, to see if she needed help-

His throat went dry.

He didn't know _why_ or _how_ he hadn't noticed it earlier before but- _damn_, she looked so completely _different_.

Gone was the shy girl who had just joined Fairy Tail, a blushing, stammering mess, instead replaced by this confident, elegant _being_.

She threw punches and kicks so gracefully, one would think she was dancing, especially with the long train of golden hair swishing behind her with each step she took.

She treaded each step carefully, eyes a tactical maze as she plotted her way to victory.

His gaze was drawn to the subtle flicks of her hand as she fiddled with her whip, the way she chewed on her bottom lip as she contemplated her next strategy and in that moment he just wanted to pull her in and dive down and-

No.

Just.

No.

He wasn't even going to go there. Because going there meant opening up a whole new can of worms. It meant acknowledging he _knew_ of what was happening to him, that he was _aware_ of the change in their relationship, that he _understood_ what he felt for the celestial mage might not have been _just_ friendship.

Thus he didn't.

So he watched, slightly in awe of the way she moved with such ease and grace and _still_ radiated that powerful energy at the same time.

She moved like fire, flickering here and there with agility only _she_ possesed, her doe brown eyes burning with intensity, and she was breathtaking.

Breathtakingly beautiful.

He wasn't sure best friends were supposed to make his cheeks heat up and his palms sweaty and fill him with this urge to do _something_ to grab her attention _somehow_, but he shoved the thought away, back into the can of worms deep in his conciousness where it belonged.

Her hands brushed over her keys, swiftly swiping one - Loke's key - out and said the incantation with practiced smoothness.

The spirit materialised, quickly pressing a kiss to his wielder's hand while sending her a wink before joining the battle.

For a second there was a fury that burned brighter than _anything_ he had felt in his life, and he was aware of the _envy_ that sparked through him as celestial spirit and mage fought alongside one another, the way they were so in sync scalding him for reasons he didn't want to admit.

(Natsu was getting tired of the damned worms that kept escaping out of the can. Why couldn't they just stay there?)

Before he knew it, the battle was over, Loke gone, leaving behind a celestial spirit mage with flushed cheeks and her hands on her hips.

As she stood over a pile of defeated enemy bodies, she caught his eye and grinned, flashing brilliantly white teeth.

"You okay there, Natsu?" she shouted, making her way towards him.

He tried furiously to unglue his eyes from the way her hips moved, the subtle curl of her lip, the way her eyes flashed with an emotion he couldn't just quite decipher.

Her lips twitched, just a little, as she gave him a gleeful smirk and did that little victory sign with her fingers.

He beamed, a wave of achievement surging over him. She had really grown, so much, and he was so unbelievably proud of her.

So he ignored the fast pounding of his heart that suggested what he felt for her wasn't just pride, and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

* * *

Meanwhile, only some distance away, stood Gray and Erza, arms folded as they slowly took in what they had just witnessed.

Gray let out a low whistle. "Man, he's got it bad for her."

Erza sagely nodded in agreement.

* * *

**A/N:** your reviews are the sweetest :)) y'all give me motivation to write lmao


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